


until we drown (swimming with the sharks)

by acnasa



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, Treehouses, white lighter theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-22 19:42:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9622718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acnasa/pseuds/acnasa
Summary: "we're falling apart," tyler says. "we're falling apart, josh."





	

**Author's Note:**

> title from vegas lights by panic! at the disco.
> 
> what is this? i have no idea.

"fire's pretty," tyler tells him. the white lighter weaves through his fingers and josh watches it.

"it's too hot for fire," he finally responds. "it's june. fire's meant for cold months, like december." 

tyler smiles a bit at that and the lighter stops, poised between his middle and pointer fingers. his lower lip cracks and a tiny line of red appears. "does that mean i'm a cold month, joshie?"

"i dunno. am i a warm month then?"

"maybe." the lighter resumes its motion and this time, tyler's pressing the little red button gently. not enough to produce a flame, but enough.

* * *

the days get hotter. tyler still sits in the treehouse, twirling the little white box between his fingers and staring at the opposite wall. his lip always cracks when josh climbs up, and a line of blood appears right after.

"hey," josh says as he climbs through the trapdoor. tyler smiles at him, his lip cracks, blood appears. "hey."

"i got you this." a small tube is tossed through the air and tyler easily catches it. he laughs when he sees the label and licks the red bead off his lip. "thanks, joshie. gotcha a present too. it's your birthday today, right?"

"yesterday, but thanks."

instead of throwing it, tyler carefully sets his lighter on the ground and crawls across the rough, gray wood and drops a crudely wrapped package in josh's lap. he sits back on his heels and gnaws on his lip, breaking the skin further.

"oh," josh giggles. "thanks." it's fingernail clippers, shiny and silver. as he runs his fingernail over the metal, it bends and rips. 

"are you gonna dye your hair again?" tyler asks. his lips are red, irritated and covered in a thin layer of blood. "the pink's fading. i'm gonna miss my cotton candy boy."

"i wanna do red," josh says after a minute. he picks at the torn fingernail and pulls it off. "red's a good color."

"it is," tyler agrees, and he watches as the fingernail tears too close to the skin and blood wells up.

* * *

 "sometimes, i wonder if i should push it down all the way," tyler says. josh doesn't respond. he's in a classroom at the university.

"it's like an adrenaline rush. just thinking about it," he continues, gently skimming his fingers over the splintery wood. "i kinda want to do it now."

he pushes down on the little red button before he can lose his nerve. a small flame springs up, soft and orange and still.

he lets go and throws the lighter in the corner.

* * *

"i quit school," josh says, and tyler jumps.

his head is shaved, cut to his scalp. josh's hair is yellow now. they've changed.

"why'd you quit?"

"i don't feel alive there," josh explains. his nose ring glows gold in the sunset light. "i don't feel alive anywhere. except here." he glances at the little white glow in the corner. a spider's building a web over it. "it's like we're risking our lives here."

"yeah," tyler sighs. his head leans back and presses against the wall. "i'm going to sleep here tonight. i like it here."

josh nods. a dandelion seed floats past his nose and out the window. "i'll sleep here too."

* * *

 "we should live here," josh whispers. "we should run away and live here together."

"d'you mean it?" tyler asks, rolling over. his eyes glow in the darkness and josh can hear him lick away the blood that forms on his lip. "really, joshie?"

"yeah, i mean it. m' family doesn't love me anymore. only you love me."

"i do," tyler gushes. he kisses josh and it tastes like pennies. "love you, joshie."

"love you too," josh responds, but it feels strange in his mouth and he swallows hard to get rid of the metal.

* * *

 "if i fell, i wouldn't get hurt," tyler announces from the windowsill. his legs swing, cutting through the frozen air. there's a snowdrift beneath the treehouse.

"don't fall," josh says as he sits beside him. "here's your sandwich."

"what if i want to?" tyler asks. his lip cracks as he smiles and a tiny droplet of blood falls thirty feet and disappears. "wouldja fall with me?"

"i'd hold you back," josh deadpans. he instinctively grabs tyler's hand and holds it tightly. another drop of blood falls.

"yeah, okay." tyler presses a gentle kiss to his cheek. it leaves a little red streak on the pale skin.

"ew," josh mutters. he doesn't scrub it away, though, and it freezes brown. in the morning, he peels it off and skin comes with it.

* * *

 "we're falling apart," tyler says. "we're falling apart, josh."

"i know." josh picks at a scab on his knee. the dried blood breaks and new blood smears across his skin. "it's getting hot again. i'm almost twenty-seven."

"my warm month boy," tyler murmurs. "yeah. yeah, you are, i guess." his lips are always bleeding now, with little red lines staining his chin. "we're falling apart, joshie."

"i know, tyler."

* * *

"happy birthday," tyler mumbles from the other side of the treehouse. josh glances at him and winces when the sunlight hits his eyes. "what time were you born?"

"i dunno." 

"well, happy twenty-seventh birthday, joshie," tyler sings. "happy birthday to you." he blows a kiss and slowly sits up, wincing as something cracks.

josh sighs in response. his leg broke yesterday. it just snapped as he was climbing up the ladder, and he didn't even scream.

"i miss you," tyler says to the silent room, and then there's lips on josh's temple. they're wet with blood and leave a mark.

"there's nothing for you to miss," josh responds, and there's silence.

* * *

they've both fallen apart.

josh lost an eye at some point. tyler lost half his fingers and toes, and his ears are starting to tear away from his skull. they don't care. 

"tyler," josh whispers at some point. "hey. tyler."

"hm."

"happy twenty-seventh birthday."

tyler laughs weakly, lungs wheezing and sputtering. "i guess it is. well, happy birthday to me." a cold hand with stumps for fingers finds its way into josh's and stays. he holds it tight and sings (or screams) the birthday song.

* * *

"hey, can you pass me the lighter?"

tyler is standing against the wall. despite missing an ear and a hand, he looks stronger.

josh stands up too. he's stronger now. even though his leg is rotting and broken and his gauges have stretched his ears to the breaking point, he stands. 

the lighter's still a pristine white. there's a nest of spiders over it. josh stomps on it and little black specks scurry across his bloody, bruised foot. tyler grimaces and grabs the lighter with his remaining hand, examining the clean, smooth surface.

"i was always so scared to push down his little button," he comments, tracing his thumb over it. "i'm not anymore. why?"

josh doesn't respond. his fingers are running over the wooden walls of the treehouse, catching on splinters and leaving a bloody trail.

tyler digs the lighter into his wall and presses the button. it takes a while, but a flame sputters to life. he shoves the lighter in his pocket and sighs.

"fire's pretty," he tells josh. "and this time, it's not too hot for fire."

josh watches the wall opposite of them turn orange as his throat starts to fall apart and his remaining eye starts to burn. "it's not too hot for fire," he agrees.

tyler smiles. his lip cracks and blood runs down his chin.

 

 


End file.
